Trains cancelled, bus services normal in Bihar during Maoist bandh

Six trains between Jharkhand and Bihar were cancelled in the wake of a two-day shutdown call given by the Maoists from today.

The trains which were cancelled were 3348/3348A Patna-Garhwaroad-Singrauli Express for two days, 3347/3347A
Barkakana-Singrauli, Garhwaroad-Patna Express, 629
Barwadih-Dehri-on-sone-Barwadih Express and 738  Dehri-on-Sone -Barwadih Express, East Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Dilip Kumar said.

He said routes of some trains were also changed because of the band call.

Kumar said all precautionary measures have been taken
by the ECR as railways have become soft-targets for Maoists.

Pilot engines would escort the trains during the day time in Maoist-affected areas, he said.

Bus services were normal in Bihar, officials claimed. 

No untoward incidents have been reported from anywhere in the state since midnight, ADG P K Thakur said. 

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of the ongoing shutdown, Thakur said and added that all police stations in the Naxalite-hit areas were put on maximum alert.

"All the district superintendents of police have been directed to intensify patrolling and deploy additional security forces at vital installations, including railway stations," Thakur said.

The banned CPI (Maoist) has called the two-day strike to protest the killing of their top leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Rajkumar alias Azad in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh.